The South Island Endurance Championship is now underway for Round 2 at Teretonga in Southland. Jonny Reid and Sam Fillmore have set the benchmark in qualifying for the 3 Hour endurance race, a 53.48 in their Audi R8 pipping the McLaren 720S GT3 Andrew Fawcett and Daniel Gaunt by .328 of a second.
The Brabham BT62 of Dwayne and Matt Carter had the third fastest time, a further .2s back, looking to improve on the unfortunate DNF that hampered the start of their 2022 campaign in Christchurch.
Racing is set to be tight in the 3 Hour, 13 cars qualifying under the one minute mark with five of those under 55 seconds.
It was Reid and Fillmore who claimed Round 1 at Ruapuna over Fawcett and Gaunt, whilst Paul and Anthony Pederson rounded out the podium. The Mercedes AMG GT3 of the Pederson’s has qualified seventh at Teretonga.
In the Class 2 & 3 One Hour Ronan Murphy looks set to improve on his second place at Ruapuna, setting the benchmark in a Porsche 991 Cup ahead of Sam Collins in a Ford Marc Mustang by just .047 of a second.
The duo look set to continue their battle from Ruapuna as they start off the front row, with Collins claiming Round 1 victory.
The Class 4 & 5 One Hour, which is currently underway, saw Andre Simon claim top spot as the only driver to go under the one minute mark in a Toyota 86 Turbo.
James Penrose qualified to start alongside Simon on the front row in an Audi RS3 LMS TCR, with Round 1 winners Scott O’Donnell and Michael Lyons start on the second row from third in their Hyundai TCR.
At the time of writing it’s Warren Black leading proceedings, also in an Audi RS3 LMS TCR, with O’Donnell and Penrose close behind with just five minutes remaining.
The Class 2 & 3 1 Hour gets underway at 11.40am, the 3 Hour following at 1.30pm.
Racing can be viewed live on the South Island Endurance Series Facebook page, as well as on the page of The Pits Media.
Banner Image: South Island Endurance Series
